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==History== LaSalle County was formed on January 15, 1831,<ref name="ipub15"/> out of [[Tazewell County, Illinois|Tazewell]] and [[Putnam County, Illinois|Putnam Counties]]. It is named for the early French explorer [[René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gannett|first=Henry|title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ|year=1905|publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n131 182]}}</ref> La Salle was the first European recorded as entering the area. He traveled the [[Mississippi River]] upriver from the [[Gulf of Mexico]], claimed the land for [[France]], or rather as a possession of King [[Louis XIV of France]], and named it [[Louisiana (New France)|Louisiana]]. In 1680, he and [[Henry de Tonty]] built [[Fort Crevecoeur]] on the [[Illinois River]] in present-day Tazewell County, and in 1683, they constructed Fort St. Louis on [[Starved Rock State Park|Starved Rock]] in present-day LaSalle County. By 1857, the county was served by the daily arrivals of two trains of the [[Illinois Central Railroad]]. As [[William D. Boyce]] reportedly founded the [[Boy Scouts of America]] in Ottawa, the council is named for him. He and two other founders established the BSA, but Boyce is given the sole credit since his faction of the BSA adopted the other two competing factions' elements within the organization. LaSalle County is within what is called the Lowaneu District of the W.D. Boyce Council. In 1838, [[William Reddick (politician)|William Reddick]], a local farmer and landowner, was elected [[Sheriffs in the United States|sheriff]] of LaSalle County.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/PDFs/124473.pdf|title=Reddick's Library|last=Catlin|first=Betty|publisher=Illinois Historic Preservation Agency|year=1971|access-date=September 30, 2021|pages=3–8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023205703/http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/PDFs/124473.pdf|archive-date=October 23, 2019}}</ref> He was hired to restore public order resulting from an influx of workmen creating the [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last1=Sprague|first1=Paul E.|last2=Dring|first2= William |others=[[National Trust for Historic Preservation]]; Ottawa Silica Company |date=1975|title=History, Significance, and Feasibility for Adaptive Use of the William Reddick Mansion at Ottawa, Illinois |url=http://libsysdigi.library.uiuc.edu/OCA/Books2010-01/historysignifica00spra/historysignifica00spra.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023205702/http://libsysdigi.library.uiuc.edu/OCA/Books2010-01/historysignifica00spra/historysignifica00spra.pdf |archive-date=October 23, 2019 |url-status=live |pages=1–150|publisher=[[University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign University Library]]|oclc=665222949}}</ref> Reddick served as sheriff for four consecutive two-year terms.<ref name=":0" /> After being elected to the [[Illinois Senate|Illinois State Senate]], Reddick commissioned the construction of a luxurious [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]] home, now known as the [[William Reddick (politician)#Reddick Mansion|Reddick Mansion]].<ref name=":1" /> This structure is one of the largest surviving pre-[[American Civil War|Civil War]] homes in Illinois.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ottawa, Illinois in Nineteen Hundred |last1=Brown |first1=Janet Rabenstein |last2=Pielemeier |first2=Nancy Rabenstein |last3=Scott |first3=Ann Rabenstein |publisher=LaSalle County Genealogy Guild <!--|isbn=1234230615 was apparently sourced from a suspicious amazon.sg listing and does not appear elsewhere --> |year=1995 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zVY0AQAAMAAJ&q=%22William+Reddick%22 }}</ref> The mansion was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1973, as part of the [[Washington Park Historic District (Ottawa, Illinois)|Washington Park Historic District]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893395|title=Illinois SP Washington Park Historic District|last=National Park Service|date=October 10, 1972|access-date=December 3, 2019}}</ref> The tri-county area of DeKalb, LaSalle, and Kendall has been influential in terms of its politics, sports, multimedia, industry, and technology. [[DeKalb County, Illinois|DeKalb County]] was the birthplace of plant hybridization (DeKalb, [[DeKalb Genetics Corporation|DeKalb Agricultural]]), the hot-air hand dryer (Sandwich, Sahara-Pak), and is the home of supermodel [[Cindy Crawford]], at least 7 MLB players, two NFL coaches, and three NFL players. LaSalle County was home to the [[Westclox|Westclox Company]] for many years, it was the site of the first [[Lincoln-Douglas Debates]], and was the home to the discoverer of [[Pluto]], as well as a [[Wild West]] figure, multiple published authors, a legendary [[NCAA]] athletic director and coach, and multiple political figures. [[Kendall County, Illinois|Kendall County]] is the home to a seminal piece of 20th Century architecture, the birthplace of the Harvester Reaper, (as well as the precursor to the [[International Harvester|International Harvester Company]]), the plastic [[tackle box (fishing)|tackle box]] and plastic-injection molding, and is the home of multiple athletes, politicians, and a former [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House of Representatives]]. DeKalb, LaSalle, and Kendall Counties have all been featured in major films, with scripts either having been written by residents or former residents. LaSalle County was founded largely by immigrants from [[New England]]. These were old stock [[Yankee]] immigrants, who were descended from the English [[Puritans]] who settled New England in the 1600s. The completion of the [[Erie Canal]] caused a surge in New England immigration to what was then the [[Northwest Territory]]. The end of the [[Black Hawk War]] led to an additional surge of immigration, once again coming almost exclusively from the six [[New England]] states as a result of overpopulation combined with land shortages in that region. Some of these later settlers were from [[upstate New York]] and had parents who had moved to that region from [[New England]] shortly after the [[American Revolution|Revolutionary War]]. New Englanders and New England transplants from upstate New York were the vast majority of LaSalle County's inhabitants during the first several decades of its history. These settlers were primarily members of the [[Congregational church|Congregational Church]], though due to the [[Second Great Awakening]], many of them had converted to [[Methodism]], and some had become [[Baptists]] before coming to what is now LaSalle County. The [[Congregational church|Congregational Church]] has subsequently gone through many divisions, and some factions, including those in LaSalle County, are now known as the [[Church of Christ]] and the [[United Church of Christ]]. As a result of this heritage, the vast majority of inhabitants in LaSalle County − much like antebellum [[New England]] − were overwhelmingly in favor of the abolitionist movement during the decades leading up to the [[American Civil War|Civil War]].<ref>History of La Salle County, Illinois: Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages and Towns, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History, Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Representative Citizens : Also a Condensed History of Illinois, Embodying Accounts of Prehistoric Races, Aborigines, Winnebago and Black Hawk Wars, and a Brief Review of Its Civil and Political History, Volume 1 by Inter-state Publishing Company, 1886</ref> When the New Englanders arrived in what is now LaSalle County, there was nothing but dense virgin forest and wild prairie. They laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings and established post routes. In 1834, Norwegian immigrants settled in the northwest corner of the county. The construction of the Illinois & Michigan Canal brought thousands of Irish and Irish-American workers to Illinois. Many settled in the counties along the canal route. Ottawa and LaSalle County had a large Irish population due to the importance of Ottawa as a trade and industrial center on the canal. The election of the LaSalle County sheriff hinged on the Irish vote when a New Englander Woodruff was replaced as sheriff by William Reddick a successful Irish landowner following Woodruff's role in putting down a riot along the canal in 1837. Irish and German immigration to LaSalle County, especially LaSalle. Ottawa and Peru prior to the Civil War was such that many German immigrants joined Illinois regiments during the war.<ref>History of LaSalle County, Illinois, by Elmer Baldwin Rand McNally & Company, 1877</ref> In the late 1880s and early 1890s, [[Irish American|Irish]] and [[German American|German]] migrants began moving into LaSalle County; most of these later immigrants did not move directly from [[Ireland]] and [[Germany]], but rather from other areas in the [[Midwestern United States|Midwest]] where they had been living, particularly the state of [[Ohio]].<ref>History of LaSalle County, Illinois, Volume 1 by Michael Cyprian O'Byrne Higginson Book Company, 1924</ref> Immigrants around the Peterstown, Troy Grove, Meriden, Mendota, and Earlville area were largely of German descent, with the Mendota area directly being the epicenter of the German community in the county. Norwegian population has been strong in the area around Northville, Serena, Mission, and Miller Townships in LaSalle County, along with Little Rock and Fox Townships in Kendall County, and Sandwich and Somonauk Townships in DeKalb County. One such family, the Borschsenius family, runs the Norway Store in the unincorporated community of Norway, in southern Mission Township, and the family has been deeply involved with businesses and the school district of nearby Serena and Sheridan. Ottawa was the first site of the famous [[Lincoln–Douglas debates]] on August 21, 1858. The community has a strong association with the 16th President, and elements of the downtown area of the city retain much mid-19th century architecture. People in LaSalle County were predominantly [[abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist]] in attitude, and many [[Underground Railroad]] sites were maintained in the county prior to the [[American Civil War]]. Utica (officially [[North Utica, Illinois|North Utica]]) is considered the gateway to the Starved Rock area. Visiting three parks provides a full experience of the area. [[Starved Rock State Park]], (south of Utica on [[Illinois Route 178]]), is the crown jewel. [[Matthiessen State Park]] (south of Starved Rock on Ill 178) has many of the same features of Starved Rock, but is smaller, and faces the [[Vermilion River (Illinois River tributary)|Vermilion River]] to the west. [[Buffalo Rock State Park]] (east of Utica, and west of Naplate/Ottawa on Dee Bennett Road) has an enclosure which features [[American bison]], as well as the mound sculpture complex, known as the Effigy Tumuli. The village was the site of a [[Tornado outbreak of April 20, 2004#Granville–Utica, Illinois|F3 tornado that ripped through the downtown]] and killed nine people on April 20, 2004. On November 15, 2023, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake hit the county. [https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us6000lnhy/executive] <gallery> File:LaSalle County Illinois 1831.png|LaSalle County from the time of its creation to 1836, including a large tract of unorganized territory temporarily attached to it.<ref name="ipub15">{{cite web |url=https://ilsos.gov/publications/pdf_publications/ipub15.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210930203716/https://ilsos.gov/publications/pdf_publications/ipub15.pdf |archive-date=2021-09-30 |url-status=live |title=Origin and Evolution of Illinois Counties|date=March 2010|publisher=[[Illinois Secretary of State]]|access-date=30 September 2021}}</ref> File:LaSalle County Illinois 1836.png|LaSalle County between 1836 and 1837 File:LaSalle County Illinois 1837.png|LaSalle County between 1837 and 1841 File:LaSalle County Illinois 1841.png|LaSalle County between 1841 and 1843 File:LaSalle County Illinois 1843.png|In 1843, the southwest corner was ceded to Marshall County, reducing LaSalle to its present size </gallery>
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